2. Hover over the Create Calculated Column button in the Action Bar of the Grade Center | click Average Column from the menu.

3. In Section 1, enter the Column Information as follows:

1. Column Name – A required field, Column Name is formal name for the Item, and is displayed in the Grade Center and My Grades (student view). This field displays a maximum of 15 characters in the column header.

2. Grade Center Display Name – The purpose of this field is to allow you to shorten the Column Name without editing the original name. This field replaces the Column Name in the Grade Center and in My Grades (student view). This field displays a maximum of 15 characters in the column header.

3. Description – A description is an optional field. It can help Instructors and other graders identify

the Column. The description is visible to students in My Grades; they access it by clicking the Details button.

4. Primary Display – This is the format of the grade displayed in both the Grade Center and My Grades (student view). This field defaults to Percentage for the Average column, but you can choose from Score, Letter, Text, Percentage or Complete/Incomplete. Additional letter schemas can be added; see Add a Grade Schema.

5. Secondary Display – This selection displays a secondary format for a column in the Grade Center. The Secondary Display is denoted by parentheses and is only visible by Instructors.

4. In Section 2, the Creation Date of the column is displayed. If Grading Periods have been created, you will have the option to choose a Grading Period from a drop‐down list which will designate to what Grading Period the column is associated. Using a Grading Period is optional.

5. Section 3 is where you Select Columns that will be included in the Average column. Possible selections include the following:

 All Grade Columns – This selection will automatically include all gradable columns that are set to” Yes” for Include this column in Grade Center calculations. Please note that this option will ignore all columns set to zero possible points (i.e. – Extra Credit). See Extra Credit for more information.

 All Gradable Columns in a Grading Period (not shown) – select a Grading Period from the drop-down menu. This field will not display unless a Grading Period has been created.”

 Selected Columns and Categories – You have the option to choose individual columns or categories to calculate the total grade. A combination of individual columns and categories can be used as well. Note: if you use categories, any assignments that have been submitted but not

graded will results in a zero in the calculation. To avoid this issue, use All Grade Columns or

individual columns in the calculation.

When a Category has been selected, several other options appear:

* Select a Grading Period for the Category using the drop-down menu. This will only be available

if a Grading Period has been created.

* Select how to weigh Columns within the Category “Equally” or “Proportionally”. Choosing “Equally” applies equal value to all gradable items within a Category. Choosing “Proportionally” applies the appropriate value to a Grade Item based on its points compared to other Columns in the Category.

* Decide whether to drop high or low grades within the Category or use the lowest or highest value in the category.

* To remove a selected item from consideration, click the red “x”.

6. Calculate as a running total – Select “Yes” to calculate the weight as a running total to include only the Columns that have been submitted and/or graded. Select No to include all items, which will place a zero for any items not completed yet; this results in a low grade.

7. Section 4, Options, is where you choose access for users:

Include this column in Grade Center calculations – Makes the column available for use in other calculations. Important: Please note that choosing Yes to this option does not duplicate scores. It simply makes the item visible in the Columns to Select box.

Show this column in My Grades – Shows the column in the student Grade view

Show Statistics (average and median) for this column in My Grades – Shows the Total

Points column statistics in My Grades. Note: Instructors with small enrollment (i.e. – 4 GE students) may not wish to enable statistics as students may be able to deduce who received what grade

Interrupt the voicemail message by pressing the carrier’s interrupt key:

Verizon: *

AT&T-Mobile: #

Sprint: l

Google Stunts

“Define” to find the meaning of any word.

Flight tracking. Type the name of the airline and the flight for details.

Unit conversion. Type in eg: inches in 32cm.

10. Four Text Basics

Double-click to highlight a word.

Don’t delete! Just type over it.

Double-click/drag to select in one-word chunks.

Triple-click to highlight a paragraph.

11. Cameras

How to eliminate shutter lag completely: half-press the shutter button to pre-focus.

12. Presentations

Press the B key to black out the slide. Press again to return to slide.

(W key for whiteout)

]]>https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/useful-tech-info-from-david-pogue/feed/0michellescholz2012ZZZZZ Studentshttps://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/zzzzz-students/
https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/zzzzz-students/#respondWed, 10 Apr 2013 23:36:30 +0000http://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/?p=457The sleeping students on blackboard are actually quite useful! Have you noticed the zzzzz_student in your Blackboard Grade Center. That student allows you to log in and see your blackboard course exactly as a student would. You can figure out how to post on a discussion board or upload documents to Safe Assign as a student. Technology Across the Curriculum has all the explanation you could need in their document on “Top Five Tips for Blackboard Users”. Here is a picture from their document. It links to the entire document. (Or come to my training on Friday.)

Michelle Scholz also blogged here a few months back about her tips and tricks. She included the zzzzz_student. She her other tricks here. What are some of your favorite blackboard tricks and tips?

]]>https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/zzzzz-students/feed/0englishkatiemitchellDocument Avaliable at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/tac/handouts/Blackboard9.1/5ThingstoknowaboutBlackboard.pdfSafe Assign on Blackboardhttps://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/safe-assign-on-blackboard/
https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/safe-assign-on-blackboard/#respondTue, 09 Apr 2013 23:21:51 +0000http://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/?p=448I’ve posted before about technology and plagiarism. Well, for teachers at Oregon State University, a new Blackboard update has made it even easier to detect plagiarism. Our latest Blackboard upgrade came with “Safe Assign”. You will find this new feature under “Create Assessments”.

Students will submit papers through Safe Assign. Safe Assign then checks the internet and Safe Assign’s database of student papers. It will document what percentage of a student’s paper is unique. It won’t tell you if anything is plagiarized. (Ten percent of the paper could be from other sources, but that information may be correctly cited or simply common phrases.) Safe Assign will, however, help you track down any uncited sources in student papers. It can also show students that they have some questionable areas before they submit their papers. This way students can learn to document their sources correctly without being penalized. Safe Assign will also stop students from sharing old papers with friends as all papers run through Safe Assign are added to its database. I’ll be talking more about Safe Assign on Friday’s training, but this document from OSU’s Technology Across the Curriculum is a great resource. This is one of those pieces of technology that will help (and students) with very little time investment.

]]>https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/safe-assign-on-blackboard/feed/0englishkatiemitchellsafe_assign_2safe_assignInterSection: Harmony in ESP Practice with Computers, Video and Digital Media. Saturday, March 23, 3:00-4:45 in the Tech Showcase.https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/intersection-harmony-in-esp-practice-with-computers-video-and-digital-media-saturday-march-23-300-445-in-the-tech-showcase/
https://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/intersection-harmony-in-esp-practice-with-computers-video-and-digital-media-saturday-march-23-300-445-in-the-tech-showcase/#respondFri, 29 Mar 2013 16:57:56 +0000http://technologyinterest.wordpress.com/?p=424I was honored to be part of this exciting forum at TESOL in Dallas, Texas. You can listen to the presentations and view them by following the link.

It was wonderful to meet so many interesting and engaged teachers in Dallas. I was amazed at how well attended our sessions were. For those of you who couldn’t come or who couldn’t get a handout, the handout are available through TESOL. I provided the links below.

If you would like to have students view all of the content of your Starboard lessons, you can easily upload these as pdfs by following the directions in this Jing. Saving Starboard files in this way also includes all of the additional documents or Powerpoint slides that you may have shown in class – a great way to make available any incidental vocabulary or photographs from lessons! Why not give it a try…

Thanks to all who attended our tech lunch on Friday, February 1st. The purpose of the gathering was to solicit some feedback from instructors on their technology use and preferences in the center. Following pizza, attendees shared their thoughts on answers to questions such as “What are the benefits of using Starboard?” or “What do you think that students expect in terms of your technology use?”. This generated some great suggestions – here are some points that were raised:

Having a rubric on the iPads for scoring presentations easily.

Having the calendar of events available for students on Blackboard to connect to the wider OSU community and ability to post additional events.

The size of the Starboard is perceived to be a drawback for some instructors.

In some classrooms the Starboards need to be calibrated regularly.

The majority of those present would like to check out iPads for a month.

All instructors present had a tech-savy person in their office to help with quick questions.

The majority of those present allow students to use phone dictionaries in the classroom.

One instructor uses Polleverywhere in class for student feedback.

The general feeling was that students expect instructors to post assignments and information on Blackboard.

Katie and Michelle will make sure that instructors can post a link to the Student Tech survey on Blackboard and remind them to do it.

A demo class using Starboard was suggested and the idea of peer coaching for Starboard use was discussed.

The legality of posting student presentations on YouTube unlisted was discussed and mention made of the task force in place who are looking into this problem of video sharing.

A question was asked about students posting in-class work related to INTO classes on YouTube. Is there a branding problem?